Merry Christmas!

It's His birthday.



Invite Him to the party.



I pray that all of you have a blessed and very merry Christmas!

Christmas Mantle {Makeover}

I love decorating my mantle every year for CHRISTMAS.



It just makes me smile.



One of the reasons I enjoy it so much is because it's where I display my favorite nativity scene.



The nativity is the centerpiece of my living room.



And the SEASON.



If you're like me, you have a slight pinning problem. You know, a finger that keeps clicking "pin" on the very addictive website, Pinterest?



Can I get an "amen?"



While obsessively pinning I came across an amazing sign that I thought would be the perfect backdrop to my nativity scene.



So I pinned it.



And then I made it--with a lot of help from the hubs!



Here's the final product:

The hubs built the sign and I painted on the text. Yep, the hubs has got some mad skills. . .

I pinned it.

We made it.

And we love it.

Every time I look at my mantle I'm reminded of the true meaning of Christmas: the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

The crazy thing is, He gave us the greatest gift ever on HIS birthday.

Wait, aren't we supposed to do the gift-giving when it's someone else's b-day?

Now that's some crazy love He has for us!

Merry CHRISTMAS!



Jazz UP a Soap Dispenser!

I suffer from the curse of the soap dispenser.



You know, the curse that involves one purchasing a gazillion pretty soap dispensers only to find none of the pumps work?



That "one" would be me.



I have a graveyard of beautimous dispensers in my bathroom cabinet.



And do ya think any of 'em work?



Nope.



So I surrendered to the cheapo-looking ones the soap actually comes in.




'Cuz at least they work.




But it just went against my grain.





So I came up with a solution:

Here's how I did it. . .

I gathered my supplies. In addition to the supplies pictured you will need some ribbon, green felt, a hot glue gun and glue sticks, three red beads, and a cute puppy.

Cut a large square of fabric big enough that it comes up at least to the top of the pump when you pull it up on all sides.

Find a cutie patootie puppy to help you tie up the fabric around the soap dispenser.

Cut off the excess fabric using good scissors. Not those sorry ones you use to cut everything from duct tape to floral wire. You know you have some.

Finish it off by tying it up with a pretty ribbon. I cut out a holly leaf from green felt, glued on three red beads, and glued the whole thing to the dispenser with hot glue. Booyah! No more staring at an ugly soap dispenser!

Free Christmas Bunting Printable

Do ya like FREE stuff?


Yeah, me too.


So here's a FREE Christmas bunting printable for you!


It's so easy!


Just print it out, cut out the triangles, punch holes in the tops of them, and string with yarn. Hang this cute bunting on your mantle or across a window. The possibilities are endless!


You can download the printable bunting here.


A big thanks to craftjr.com for providing us with this awesome bunting!


Happy Bunting Making!

Thankful

There are so many things to be THANKFUL for.



Some are seemingly silly things and others are life-changing blessings.



I'll start with the silly things.



I'm thankful for bacon, heat-n-bond, Pintererst, vintage clothing, thrift stores, Cracker Barrel. . . the list goes on and on.



But let's get serious.



I often think to myself, "where would I be if I hadn't been born into a wonderful family who cared enough to point me to Jesus?"



Would I even acknowledge God?



Would I have ever come to know Him without my family's direction?



Here's an extremely short list of the amazing blessings for which I am thankful (in no particular order other than 1 & 2):


1. Salvation through Jesus
2. The Bible (Life's GPS)
3. My Church (People to do life with)
4. My amazing parents
5. My awesome brother
6. Wonderful grandparents
7. The absolute best husband I could have ever asked for
8. My hubby's side of the family
9. My sweet little dachshund, Taz
10. A warm shower/bath
11. A comfy bed
12. Food and clothing
13. A cozy home
14. Transportation
15. Music
16. Peace and contentment
17. My health
18. Godly friends
19. Safety and security
20. Freedom and the honor to live here in the USA



I could go on and on.



But I won't--not here on the blog, at least.



But I do plan to continue my thankfulness to the One who blessed me with all of these things.




I recently came across this picture, and it reminded me of how truly blessed we are:

What are you thankful for?

I pray that you all have a wonderful, blessing-filled Thanksgiving!

Fluffy Pumpkin Cheesecake {Make It, Why Dontcha?}

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It's nutty.


It's crazy.


It's almost here.


THANKSGIVING!!!!!


Okay, wasn't I just scrambling around to put the finishing touches on my Thanksgiving recipes and rushing to get to Grams' house on time last year???? What the what??


If you're like me, you wait to the last minute to do most things.


Look up "procrastination" in the dictionary and there I'll be.


But, I hope you're sitting down, I am ready for Thanksgiving this year!


Yep, a whole whopping 2 days early!! I'm also almost done with my Christmas gifts. I just need to get them wrapped, but that's a different story. . .


Anyway.


Actually, the hubs and I had Thanksgiving this weekend with his side of the fam and we'll spend Thanksgiving day with my crazy side.

I made a couple of dishes this weekend, so I thought I'd share one of my favs with you:

Fluffy Pumpkin Cheesecake!

It's so good and it's so easy!



The recipe comes from this book, which is chock-full of easy-to-do recipes:

I highly recommend it!

Alrighty, let's get movin' with the recipe!

1 package *8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1 canned pumpkin

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 tub (8 oz) whipped topping, thawed

1 prepared graham cracker crust (6 oz or 9 in)

(I make my own crust because it's cheaper, but a prepared one can save time. Your call.)

Beat cream cheese, pumpkin, sugar and pumpkin pie spice in large bowl with wire whisk or electric mixer on high speed until smooth. Gently stir in whipped topping. Spoon into crust.

Refrigerate 3 hours or until set. Garnish with additional whipped topping.

I garnished my pie with pecans since my wonderful grandparents gave me about 5 lbs of them from their pecan tree! This pie definitely needs some sort of decoration because, on its own, it's rather bland looking. As in, "ewww, that-looks-gross-I'm-not-eating-that" kind of bland looking. The cookbook suggests garnishing with sliced kiwi and curled orange peel. You can also sprinkle the pie with ground cinnamon. Store the remaining cheesecake (if there is any!) in the fridge. Yum!

Ombre. . . Hair, That Is.

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I've been noticing the OMBRE HAIR trend popping up a lot lately.


At first I wasn't sure what to think of it, but it's GROWING ON ME (pun intended).


Well, let me clarify my previous statement. I like it when it's done the RIGHT WAY.


Exhibit A:

I'm diggin' this look. Soft caramel ends over a chocolate base.

Me likeee.

It could have something to do with the fact that I associate this look with the sugary sweets I used to describe it . . .


Moving on.


So far, so good. Ombre is rating high with me.


Oh, wait.

Somebody leaned over and accidentally dipped her hair in the Kool-Aid pitcher.

OOOOHHHHH YEEEAAHHH!

Cruella DeVille's Daughter? Sorry, Drew. Nothin' but love for you, not so much for the hair.

Since becoming acquainted with the while ombre hair thing, I realized that one of my family members has been rocking this look for a while--even before it became a trend.




I'm convinced this little guy is the one who started the ombre craze:

He's a trendsetter. A trendsetter indeed.



So, what do you think of the ombre hair look? Yay or nay?